Call for Territorians to nominate for 2019 Australian of the Year Awards

On Monday 4 June 2018, paediatric cardiologist and 2018 Northern Territory Australian of the Year Dr Bo Remenyi will join NT Chief Minister The Hon Michael Gunner MLA to call on Territorians to nominate people for the 2019 Australian of the Year Awards.

Dr Remenyi will also unveil a new advertisement featuring her image on a Darwin bus, prompting the public to submit a nomination for someone whose efforts and contributions should be recognised and help find the 2019 Australian of the Year Awards recipients.

Nominations for 2019 Australian of the Year, 2019 Senior Australian of the Year, 2019 Young Australian of the Year and 2019 Australia’s Local Hero are open until midnight Tuesday 31 July 2018. Nominating is quick and easy – simply complete the online nomination form at australianoftheyear.org.au or call 1300 655 193 for assistance in submitting your nomination.

Every Australian can play their part in the Awards by nominating someone so their efforts and contributions are recognised publicly. It only takes one nomination for someone to be in the running for the Awards, but a nomination must be formally submitted. Once nominations close, finalists from each State and Territory will be announced in later 2018 and the national Awards will be announced on the evening of 25 January 2019 in Canberra.

WHAT: Call for nominations for 2019 Australian of the Year Awards

WHEN: 10:00am,Monday 4 June 2018

WHERE: Parliament House, Mitchell Street, Darwin

WHO: Dr Bo Remenyi - 2018 Northern Territory Australian of the Year

The Hon Michael Gunner MLA - Chief Minister Northern Territory

VISUALS: Dr Remenyi and Chief Minister with Darwin bus

CONTACT: Kiya Gill, NT Australia Day Council - 0417 865 291

Dr Bo Remenyi – 2018 NT Australian of the Year

As a junior doctor working in remote communities, Dr Bo Remenyi was tasked with filling out death certificates for children dying of preventable heart disease. Finding this unfair and unacceptable, Bo spent a further six years studying to become one of Australia’s first female paediatric cardiologists. Now an internationally-recognised expert, Bo is tackling the Northern Territory’s rate of Rheumatic Heart Disease, which among the Indigenous population is currently the highest in the world. While primarily a clinician, Bo’s ground-breaking Ph D research has been published in top tier journals Lancet and Nature Reviews Cardiology and has seen her assist the American Heart Association and work with the World Heart Federation for global public health projects. Bo also undertakes humanitarian work with Rotary in resource-poor countries in our region. Bo’s contribution is even more extraordinary, given she arrived in Australia as a political refugee after fleeing Hungary as a teenager. She started school in Australia without any English language skills, but today Bo’s education, expertise and sheer hard work is saving lives.